Topps Transcendent Party 2019 - Mike Trout - Part 2

 The Topps interview with Mike Trout was scripted but still incredibly enjoyable.  Some of the funnier anecdotes included that Shohei Ohtani wears the same shirt every day on a road trip, which must be some sort of pitcher superstition.  Justin Upton is well dressed.  Mike once got punked by Jered Weaver as a rookie and was repaid in $3000 of unrolled quarters.  Which he and his wife re-rolled, only to have the bank tell them that it would've been better to have not done that.

                            

When Mike got called up by the Angels, he was already the #1 prospect in baseball.  But he was still being paid peanuts and was sharing an apartment with 3 other teammates and was sleeping on an air mattress.  He had to leave on an early morning flight, and his wife (then girlfriend) had to pack all their stuff up and follow him.  Not exactly glamorous.  He also talked about the first time he had to sign cards for Topps - It was about 7000 cards or so.  He said it took him over 6+ hours and he did it over several days on his parents kitchen table.  When asked about shortening his signature, he replied that he had to because he hadn't anticipated needing to sign so many things.

The thing that really got me was how personable he was and how he engaged the room.  He truly is a humble superstar.  He talked about how much joy it brought him when a little kid's eyes lit up when he talked with them or signed autographs for him, and how it reminded him of when he met his childhood idols.  I don't think it was canned or scripted.  He just seems like a genuinely good dude.  Which is great, since he is the best player, by any metric, of the current generation of baseball players.  What an incredible person to be both the best player and a fantastic ambassador for the sport.

Mike took the time to shake hands with everyone in the room, and pose for extra pictures.  He answered questions about Vegas Dave ("Who?") and about his $80,000 Orange Bowman Chrome Rookie Autograph ("That's way too expensive for me.")  He graciously talked about his thumb surgery rehab with me, as I couldn't help but ask him bout his UCL reconstruction.  He showed off his scar and talked about the immense amount of rehabilitation that he went through, starting some 4 days after surgery.  He also said he wished he had a protective sliding glove earlier in his career.